FATHER OF BODYBUILDING-EUGEN SANDOW

Posted by BAZIL , Sunday, April 18, 2010 11:31 PM

Eugen Sandow often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding" was born on April 2,
1867 in the ancient German city of Konigsberg in East Prussia - today it is part of Russia.
His real name was Friedrich Muller.Fortunately, Sandow was blessed with a great natural physique and the brains to use it.
The young man left his birthplace with a circus that was passing through.He became an acrobat,
honing his skills as an athlete and a performer as he traveled from place to place.He was also improving his body.
The gymnastics and acrobatics were hardening and defining his muscles to a remarkable degree.
but the circus in which he worked went bankrupt this made the turning point in his life,
he was taken by Louis Attila, a professional strongman and early instructor in physical culture.Attila trained sandow.Later
After this brief training period, the two men went from city to city displaying their feats of strength and making a scanty
living from the infrequent bookings in second-rate music halls.By 1889 Sandow and Attila had separated,
though they occasionally kept in touch by letter.Then he was joined by Florenz Ziegfeld and he started to exibit his own
physic and earned money.Sandow married the daughter of an English photographer and settled in London where
he opened an 'Institute of Health' in St James Street.
He was the author of several books on physical fitness, regimen and diet.
As recognition of his contribution to the sport of bodybuilding, a bronze statue of Sandow sculpted by Frederick Pomeroy
has been presented to the winner of the Mr. Olympia contest, a major professional bodybuilding competition sponsored by
the International Federation of Bodybuilders, since 1977. This statue is simply known as "The Sandow"
He died in London on October 14, 1925 of a stroke, age 58.

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